Saanich and serendipity : birding the Swartz Bay to Victoria route on Vancouver Island – February 2018

BEYOND, Birds, British Columbia, Canada, Travel

Following a wonderful work conference in Vancouver last week, I took the opportunity to visit Vancouver Island for the first time over the weekend.

The quest for the perfect birding location not too far from downtown Van began last fall and I quickly narrowed it down to the Victoria region after consulting the Birding in British Columbia website.

A few years ago, I spent the day with a great birder in Las Vegas, Je Anne, who taught me to study the birds of the area you are visiting in advance and this has always stuck with me.

Along the way I’ve also learned not to wish for birds, but to look for what is expected in an area for the habitat and season.

Victoria is quite warm compared to the rest of British Columbia and migration comes earlier, although by and large I wanted to tick expected species not native to Nova Scotia such as the Chestnut-backed Chickadee.

Last year I birded Stanley Park after the conference and was most disappointed that I could not locate a Black Oystercatcher, and believe it or not, a Chestnut-backed Chickadee. So, the wish list starts there.

By Vancouver standards, quite a bit of snow had fallen overnight, and the city looked just beautiful from the Skytrain.

The bus ride from the train to the Twassen Ferry was quite messy as they didn’t plow, and we got a little stuck at one point but it was no big deal. Besides, we passed a group of Trumpeter Swans in some flats on the way and it was the first lifer of the trip so I knew I was on track. My co-worker who was also heading for Victoria, was underwhelmed by this sighting as is often the case with non-birders. We birders are used to this and shan’t be discouraged…LOL

Once we boarded the ferry I left my bags inside with my fine friend and went outside in search of feathered ones. I dipped on a few Alcids that I believe I missed by about a week, so I have a reason to return I suppose.

Rhinoceros Auklet and Ancient Murrelet were the two who got away. But I did pickup many Pacific Loons in the pass, which was pretty amazing but sadly no photos as there were so many birds I couldn’t figure out who to shoot.

From the ferry I headed for the car rental place which turned out to be right on the road I’d been told to visit for Eurasian Skylarks. As predicted they were fairly easy to hear, and just as impossible to see. Next.

I had my heart set on finding Canvasback Ducks but believe I missed them by days. With a heavy heart I set out to leave the Viaduct Flats but as I approached my car I heard the Robins making a ruckus and looked up to see the biggest Fox Sparrow I’ve ever seen high on a branch. Wait a minute, is that a Northern Pygmy Owl? Holy binoculars batman that is amazing! Backlit, Robin-sized, and perched high my shots will not be NatGeo quality, but I’ll take it.

On that note, the pressure I put on myself to achieve great photos in these circumstances is ridiculous. Riding around by myself to marshes and flats nobody who lives in the area even heard of with hardly time to stop in each place, overwhelmed by the songs of new to me birds, and changing lighting conditions, it is what it is. I must accept that a photo shoot is a very different beast. This is birding, and it’s all about doc shots. Some turn out not too badly and maybe someday you get to have a bit of time to do a shoot with a favorite down the road.

Anyway, I sort of thought that was good enough for one day and was thinking about calling it a day and trying to formulate a plan for the morning.

I got it in my head pretty early on that the Martindale Flats would be the mecca of my birding time, so when I saw a large sign on the highway for Martindale Road I couldn’t resist putting in some more birding time before supper even though I’d skipped both breakfast and lunch.

Serendipity for the second time that day as I met two of the best birders from the area, Daniel and Michael, who gave me a little tour of a local hotspot in the flats and helped me located a flock of Western Meadowlarks, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Brewers Blackbirds after looking over my list.

Mike and Daniel

Golden-crowned Sparrows

I did eventually head off for supper with a new major nemesis on the brain. Damn you Barn Owls, this is not over!

Sunday morning, I decided to start early right on the property where I was staying. The habitat at the Swartz Bay Farm and the end of Land’s End Road near the ferry is nothing short of amazing. Landed four lifers (here is my list) before I finished my morning coffee! As well the sheer quantity of songbirds on the property is amazing and there was only one small feeder that may not have even had food in it.

There were several birds I could not identify on site that eluded me. One was grunting and sounded large so possibly a ground/game bird?

One bizarre large sounding loud alarm call in the brush with the Towhees I never did identify. I’ve never heard anything like it and nothing came to mind, although perhaps to locals it would be familiar. I like a good mystery, so I’ll be back (or maybe for now I’ll just stalk other people’s eBird reports as it’s long drive from Nova Scotia).

I heard one song I would call Townsend’s Solitaire but won’t list it as I can’t be certain and didn’t locate the bird for sighting. Heard the Vireo scold call several times so would assume it was a Hutton’s Vireo but won’t list that either. Both are expected migrants for this time of the year, so I would not think either out of the question. The one bird I heard very distinctly that is not expected and rejected by eBird is a Black-throated Green Warbler. However, that is a bird I know by ear unmistakably so if it was not present then a mimic bird such as a Starling must be up to some tricks (and that is something that does happen for you non-birders). Again, nothing like a good mystery. I’d be delighted to see some eBird reports for this area. Perhaps get permission to bird the property as the people who run the inn are very nice. As well the little walking path by the highway across the street continues to be very birdy. I can’t make it back until next year at best, but it was great to be fully immersed in the music of songbirds. Overwhelming at first, things started to make sense as I put sightings together with songs and eliminated species and did some detective work. My spring ears aren’t even on yet as it’s the dead of winter in Nova Scotia, so I am pleased with how things turned out overall. Learning regional birds takes time so it’s coming along slowly for my British Columbia lists.

I had a free hour and a half for birding before meeting a good friend for lunch in Sidney, so decided to check out the Saanichton Spit. It took me a long time to find it but it was really worth the effort. Much of what I expected to see was not around this week (the theme of the weekend) but I got good looks at some Western Meadowlarks and was greeted by a group of 18 Northern Pintails and a number of very nosy Anna’s Hummingbirds so left pretty happy. Next time I will dedicate more time to this area and it’s spectacular habitat.

Western Meadowlark

Anna’s Hummingbird

I put an end to land-bird hunting for this trip and devoted the afternoon to search for shorebirds and seabirds. Much dipping ensued but that is not always bad as you know.

The Black Turnstones and Surfbirds were both to be an easy catch, alas neither made an appearance. I figured at this point I’d narrow things down to my one shoreline nemesis, the Black Oystercatcher, and was prepared to put in the rest of the time before my flight for a look at one.

As I ran out of places to search at Cattle Point, a nosey group of River Otters popped up on the rocks and that was so wonderful I thought that was the end of gifts from the universe for the day.

River Otters

No sooner did I put the keys in the ignition did two Oystercatchers pop into sight right in front of my car. Hopped out and got my photos before they flew up alarmed and back out of sight.

Honestly, at this point it’s all gravy so I took a little stroll down at Turkey Head and saw yet another Black Oystercatcher, but this time much closer.

Black Oystercatcher

Overall a pretty great day, and as often happens to me the minute I got in the car and started driving it started raining hard.

That is always my signal that the little portal to the birding heaven has closed for the day.

Get it where you can I say, we all need a little bit of wonder in our day.

Sixteen new to me birds for this weekend included:

Black Oystercatcher
Northern Pygmy Owl
Trumpeter Swan
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Bushtit
Eurasian Collared Dove
Eurasian Skylark
Red-breasted Sapsucker
Red-shafted Northern Flicker (ours in Nova Scotia are the same, only Yellow-shafted)
Bewick’s Wren
California Gull
Golden-crowned Sparrow
Pacific Loon
Pigeon Guillemot
Western Meadowlark
Brewers Blackbird

Favorite photo of the weekend is not the sharpest, but it makes me smile.

Golden-crowned Sparrow with a sleepy friend

Thank you, Mother Nature, for being most agreeable, and to all the lovely people I met along the way. Until we meet again…Happy Birding.

Angela

a perfect April day in Stanley Park, Vancouver

BEYOND, Birds, British Columbia, Travel

My camera (left the bins at home since my super zoom doubles as a scope) had come out of checked baggage with a blurry viewfinder and the idea of spending the day birding in British Columbia with no optics loomed over me like the rain clouds.

The first two days in Vancouver were spent with my coworkers from RC Pets (the best pet company in North America and the best coworkers too btw!) and they took us on an amazing tour of the Sea to Sky highway and up the Sea to Sky Gondola. I was frustrated with the camera of course but managed to nab my first lifer of the trip, a Steller’s Jay. We also heard the amusing calls of the Sooty Grouse under the suspension bridge. Groups of small chattery birds flew by several times but without my zoom I couldn’t figure out what they were. My guess best guess would be Mountain Bluebirds based on impression but I’ll never know. Guess I better go back someday! The snowshoe hikes looked like great fun in fact.

Steller’s Jay

It was sad to leave my coworkers and friends but also fantastic to have an upcoming day to myself. I headed to English Bay for the evening after a fabulous farewell supper with some of the gang.

A White-crowned Sparrow singing loudly outside my window at the Sylvia as my alarm went off inspired some hope. I decided I had to do something about this situation. I phoned my other half back home and we googled the prices of cheap binoculars. As I contemplated picking up a $50 set at London Drug just to make the day somewhat worthwhile the suggestion was made to google “blurry viewfinders”.

White-crowned Sparrow

The clouds parted as I located the diopter on my camera and corrected the view. On with room service, shower, and Stanley Park then! Whew!

Greeted by Canada Geese, Glacous-winged Gulls, and Northwestern Crows I made my way along the beach in English Bay toward this glorious urban haven.

Northwestern Crow – a little different that our American Crows back home on the East Coast

Glaucous-winged Gull (my first lifer in English Bay!)

Glaucous-winged Gull – we don’t have these on the East Coast – not the lack of black on the wing tips – the distinguishing feature from our Herring Gulls

Northwestern Crow – courting behavior – I had a little crow porn outside my window at the Teahouse at that…oy!

Armed with my wish list of lifers (and 2 down already!), the Spotted Towhees loudly and immediately checked themselves off my list.

Stanley Park is known for it’s hummingbirds, and although I’m not a huge fan the Rufous Hummingbirds were a bit of a showstopper admittedly.

Rufous Hummingbird male

Rufous Hummingbird female

Having done my homework for the time of year the coastline seemed the better bet, so I followed the sea wall dreaming of Oystercatchers and Canvasbacks along the way.

Although they never appeared, hundreds of Barrow’s Goldeneyes accompanied me throughout the day, along with an initial greeting from a pair of Horned Grebes in breeding plumage.

Barrow’s Goldeneye male

Barrow’s Goldeneye female

Woodland birds called along the way and took me on marvelous diversions into the old growth forest for at least half of the time. The Pacific Wren were the highlight of my adventure and with some patience I got a marvelous show from one of these teeny songsters.

The easiest bird on my checklist (Chestnut-backed Chickadee) managed to evade my sightings, although I did hear them all over it never seemed important to track one down for a photo. As well my Eagle sightings were both Bald and neither Golden, but this was a day for wandering and not twitching.

Lost Lagoon was full of Wood Ducks and I also got a nice show from a Fox Sparrow.

My outdoor classroom for the day was filled with song, wonder, and lessons on habitat. An old-growth forest is like nothing else on this earth. Back home in Nova Scotia there we have very little of it (please consider supporting the Nova Scotia Nature Trust), but in the pockets that still exist our equivalent woodland birds and critters are just as happy.

Trusting that nature would take care of me I trekked the kilometers through the park and when I thought I could take no more, the Teahouse oasis appeared.

Another scan of the seawall didn’t net the results I had hoped for but the Pelagic Cormorants appeared, and a solo Harlequin Duck put on a lovely show alongside a pair of Green-winged Teal.

Pelagic Cormorants

Sore feet snuck up on me, and the perfect path took me into the middle of the park to avoid the long sea wall trek. A sheltered oasis of stream and marsh greeted me in the Beaver Lake area of the park. Great Blue Heron fished for minnow in the creek and Swallows snatched insects amidst the waterfowl.

My camera battery died as I meandered out of the park but not before a Pileated Woodpecker appeared who let me so close I was able to get this video on my phone without the need of any zoom.

A perfect day in Stanley Park. I will return.

Lunch Break Birding in Orlando

BEYOND, Birds, Travel, United States

Some people take March Breaks in Orlando but I did lunch breaks, and didn’t too badly for about a grand total of 90 minutes of birding in a 4 day stretch.

I was there for the Global Pet Expo to help my good folk from Auburn Leathercrafters show their booth.

I had high hopes for racking up world lifers at the end of each day, however I forgot that it would be dark fairly early in the evenings and the sun would come up late. So with little time to work with I just made the best of what I could snag within walking distance on a quick lunch break, a quick break before evening meals, and a brief jaunt before leaving for my flight.

In a twist of fate we were displaying our products on beds designed by Bev at Black Cat Dog Designs, who turns to be an avid birder. So although we were inside the convention center much of the time we could at least compare notes.

My hard core first year in birding paid off as many of the migrants who visit from Florida were wandering about in plain sight and easy to spot for me since I did my homework in Nova Scotia.

I had a few target birds from a brief google study I made the night before flying out and on my first day I found one of them in a little pond of reclaimed water across from the Hyatt Regency. He was a great reward after a 9 hour day on the show floor. I’m happy the photos turned out as he cost me a severe allergic reaction to the pesticide in the grass not to mention the weirdness of being spotted sitting in the middle of hotel land in the grass (in a dress at that) by my colleagues as they headed off to dinner in a group…yes I am the crazy bird lady…LOL. My advice at any rate is don’t sit in the grass in the urban centers, but for me it’s done now and I will never see a Wood Stork in Nova Scotia he is so cool!

There were many Boat-tailed Grackles and Fish Crows around the convention center at all times and both were new to me so that was kind of fun. They were mostly flying about and perching high so my photos aren’t great of them but I did catch this fellow in a tree.

Also in the pond in front of the convention center I saw my first Tricolored Heron.

We stayed out at a house in Davenport in the heart of some orange groves so the Northern Mockingbirds were in good numbers. Each morning we could hear them from the driveway as we were just heading out as the sun rose and what a sweet way to start our day.

And I quickly spotted a Loggerhead Shrike which looks much like the former on quick glance which is likely how they sneak up on their prey before impaling them. Yup. No photos of that I’m afraid.

But the best thing that happened to me was when a Sandhill Crane walked right up to me as I was standing still and all the hair on his neck stood up when he had the gut feeling that no, I am not a light post.

It’s always somewhat disappointing when I can’t make as much time for birding as I would like, but a girl’s gotta work and I feel very fortunate to even be able to get to these wonderful spots for work and catch a little birding on the side.

All in all I had a great time connecting with my friends and coworkers who I don’t see very often. I made some new friends, the trade show was very upbeat and the attendees were interesting and engaged, and I got to do some birding.

I’ll take it.

Happy Birding,

Angela

a week in New England…with no time to bird Sept/Oct 2015

Birds, Travel, United States

I spent last week travelling through New Brunswick and New England (Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts). I had high hopes that I would be able to spend evenings birding when my work was done but it was dark early, and I was on the road late so there was very little birding to be had. In fact, I think my heart broke a little more each of the 4 times I drove by the Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge and could not stop.

However, when you drive thousands of miles you are bound to see something right?

I had 4 new to me birds that were spotted incidentally, the best find being the Rusty Blackbird on the first night I spent in St. Andrews by-the-Sea.

Driving though Maine I spotted a flock of Eastern Bluebirds flying in a farmer’s field so stopped to have a peek. Those little guys are so cute, and not very common back home.

It would turn out that I was so scared driving in the i-95 toward NYC, that once I reached my stop in Greenwich I vowed to never drive on it again and took the backroads out of the city. And so, I ended up in one of the richest neighbourhoods in North America. Like think Dupont family rich. Well, I’m sure it went over like a ton of bricks when I stopped to photograph this Turkey Vulture, but hey you only live once. Would have been awesome to have had time to visit the Babcock Preserve which is known for Hooded Warblers…will do in the Spring I guess. I’ll take the Turkey Vulture for now.

Mother Nature must have a sense of humor because later that evening I happened upon a family of Wild Turkeys, first ones I’ve even seen.

The Ferry ride is about the closest thing to a pelagic trip I’ll get in some time but all I saw was Northern Gannets and Surf Scoters. It’s pretty neat to watch the Gannets hours from land though I must say.

Although I had no time for birding in New England, my ferry was due to land in Yarmouth at 8am on Saturday morning so I had planned to visit Cape Forchu to look for Warblers and Kinglets once back in Nova Scotia. However, the ferry landed 7 hours late. Even though I know this would be a terrible time to visit Cape Sable Island for the first time (and it was blowing a gale to boot) I made a stop to see it for the first time at least. Gorgeous habitat for birds can’t wait to get there someday to do some real birding. I did finally get to see a female Belted Kingfisher at least, so not a total wash.

Overall, it was the least birdy road trip I’ve been on but I have great ideas for where to stop when I visit next time. Nothing worth having comes easy they say.

Nevada birding with Je Anne July 20 (31 lifers in one day)

Birds, Travel

They say Vegas is a rich man’s town but if you’re a birder, all bets are off.

This morning an amazing lady named Je Anne picked me up at my hotel at 530am and we set out for Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve. Once at the preserve, we met up with John Taylor (who’s pretty cool too) who was working at the preserve for the day who drove us around and we quickly started stacking up lifers for this little Nova Scotia birding newbie. Je Anne has a tremendous amount of birding knowledge to share. I learned a lot, and had a lot of fun too.

John, Je Anne, and Me at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve

Right away we spotted Black-Necked Stilts and American Avocets which were both new to me, as well as Gambel’s Quail with chicks. Honestly, had I gone home at that point I still would have been delighted!

Black-Necked Stilts

American Avocet

American Avocet

Gambel’s Quail family at a distance but good ID shots anyway

There were a list of lifers that I made confirmed IDs of but did not photograph at the preserve as well:

Black-Chinned Hummingbird
Anna’s hummingbird
Broad-Tailed Hummingbird
Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher
Loggerhead Shrike (camera battery had just died but I did get something fabulous right before that happened)

I was able to photograph a nice variety of new to me birds (lifers) before the battery ran out on my camera, and the coolest one was a Least Bittern. (will post the rest of the photos shortly)

Ruddy Duck male note the bluish beak

Ruddy Duck female note the tail they apparently used to be called the stiffed tail duck?

Eared Grebes

Eared Grebe

Coopers Hawk

Green Heron

Green Heron

White Faced Ibis there were 5 of them that we noted

Common Gallinule

Common Gallinule

Common Gallinule

Long Billed Dowitcher

costas hummingbird

Crissal Thrasher just an ID shot click twice to zoom

Bewicks Wren – gorgeous song looks plain

Western Tanager – flock of a half a dozen or so males on the move so migration is probably starting

Yellow-Headed Blackbird (female?)

the Least Bittern was the show stopper – Je Anne has let me know this is an adult male – my battery died right after I snagged him so perfect!

Least Bittern

As if this were not enough Je Anne made a stop for us to see some Burrowing Owls (we saw 6) before we headed to our next destination. I was pretty sad not to have my camera working for those fellers but it was still wonderful. There was one sitting in the sand, one buried up to it’s eyeballs and a group of 4 a few feet away. Super cool birds. We also stopped to observe a group of Eurasian Collared Doves for good measure. And this ended the city portion of our Nevada birding adventure. Although my camera was not working, the trip to Mount Charleston and the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area was breathtakingly beautiful and I watched a bunch more wonderful lifers. Witnessed, IDed and confirmed for me lifers included:

Western Scrub Jay
Pinyon Jay
Violet Green Swallow
Western Bluebirds (juvenile and adults)
Great Tailed Grackles
Lesser Goldfinch (male and female)
Black-Headed Grosbeak (stunning bird)
Cassin’s Finch (male and female)

The camera phone is not great, but good enough for nabbing some photos of the Mule Deer, and the wild horses. Yes I said wild horses. Aplenty at that.

one of the many wild horses

Mule Deer

The one bird I had wanted to see but did not was the Roadrunner. At the request of my nieces and nephew of course. But on the drive back to the hotel I spotted not one, but two. Mother Nature always delivers…

Birds, Barks, Beyond

wildlife & portrait photography by Angela Granchelli

Travel

Saanich and serendipity : birding the Swartz Bay to Victoria route on Vancouver Island – February 2018

a perfect April day in Stanley Park, Vancouver

Lunch Break Birding in Orlando

a week in New England…with no time to bird Sept/Oct 2015

Nevada birding with Je Anne July 20 (31 lifers in one day)